Ohio State University Extension Family and Consumer Sciences

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Do you enjoy gardening? Growing your own healthy fruits and vegetables? Looking at the beautiful flowers that you have grown? I’m sure many answered yes to these questions, but if I ask, “Do you enjoy weeding your garden?” I would probably receive a different answer!

June 13th is actually National Weed Your Garden Day! Who would have imagined that there is a day dedicated to such an unpopular pastime! However, the background for this day provides several good reasons that we should devote a day (or more!) to weeding our gardens.

First, weeding can lead to healthier crops. The weeds compete with your desirable plants for water, sunlight and nutrients. This is especially important when the plants are young. If you can have your soil weed free before planting you are off to a good start.

One of the best tips for having a weed free garden is to stay in control. Weeding for 5 – 10 minutes each day can help you keep ahead of the fast growing weeds. Be careful not to let any weeds produce seed. You can mulch between the plants to help prevent weeds from sprouting.

Weeding can also help lead to a healthier you. Did you know that you can burn calories and work some of your muscles simply by weeding your garden? If you’d like to improve your shoulders, arms, thighs, and butt muscles, gardening could be for you!

Here is a simple calculator to help you determine how many calories you can burn while weeding. As an example, an average slice of cheese pizza contains 272 calories. If you weigh about 150 lbs. and weed in the garden for about 45 minutes, you could balance out that slice of pizza! You can also increase the intensity of your weeding session to have a cardiovascular workout.

So if you want healthier fresh fruits and vegetables from your own garden and the bonus of a more fit body, take the time to regularly weed your garden.